Trev’s Tips

Fried Lighter

Seems that every other time that I’m writing this section the words “this seems to be a common problem with Pajeros” appear.  Fortunately they have never been used in reference to a problem that is either expensive or difficult to fix.  In keeping up with this fine tradition today’s tip refers to the common problem of broken cigarette lighters.  Of course I’m referring to the actual plug being broken not the lighter part.

Another interesting point is that it is usually the plug in the cargo area of the car that fails although I have occasionally heard of the front ones not working either.  Maybe this is because they get the heaviest usage when we try to run fridges etc off them but I have heard of this plug not working even in some brand new Pajs.

Generally it is quite an easy fix.   First thing to check is that you have not blown a fuse but chances are the problem will be with a small fuse wire that is actually on the back of the actual plug. 

Getting the plug out requires the removal of part of the back interior paneling that the plug sits in.  Once enough of this is taken out so that you can get to the back of the plug remove the clip on wires and then unscrew the metal casing that envelopes the entire plug.  After this has been completely taken off the plug should pull through the plastic paneling and become completely exposed.      

What you should find now is that there is a small wire on the back of this plug that is the fuse wire.  This is the wire I was referring to earlier that blows causing a failure in the plug.  It may look to be in perfectly good condition but I’ll put a carton on it that it is broken inside the plastic casing.  You can test to see if this is the problem by using a multimeter across the wire to see if it has a connection.

So how to fix it?  When this problem happened to me I just soldered a new piece of ordinary wire into its position to fix the connection.  To date I have not had any more problems with the plug but I am conscious of the fact that there is no longer a fuse down there.  As far as I’m concerned I don’t think this is an issue because the all important fuse at the fuse box is still in place to cut the power if a short or overload was ever to take place.  However after speaking to Paul recently on this issue he quite ingeniously fitted a fuse in an inline holder that protruded through the plastic paneling just below the plug so that not only is there still a fuse in place but it is also easily accessible for replacement should the need arise.

In order to complete this method of fixing the fuse Paul had to run two small extension wires from the connection points of the old broken fuse wire into the newly installed inline fuse holder.  A simple and effective fix.

Hope the explanation above is clear enough for you to attempt to fix your own plugs but if you are still not sure it’s only a 15 min repair so I’d be more than happy to help out one weekend if you wanted some assistance.  If the front plugs were to fail I’d be checking this fuse wire on the back of them as a first check.  Removing the centre console to get the plug out is obviously a bit different to taking out the back paneling but still quite easy and can be done in less than 10mins.

Of course the age old question of why bother to fix it just go and get a new one will always arise but the response to this simple.  Firstly there is much satisfaction in doing small repairs like this yourself and will often give the confidence needed to try other slightly larger jobs, but mostly doing this repair is better than forking out the $100 plus dollars for a new plug from Mitsubishi that will probably fail in the same way your last one did.

Hope you all had a great Christmas break and look forward to catching up with everyone in the New Year.

Trevor 

(Have you ever noticed how nothing is impossible for those who don't have to do it?)